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Bin Laden death photos may stay secret

The public may never see photos of the dead Osama bin Laden. ..WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal appeals court judges seemed skeptical Thursday about forcing the government to release photos and video taken of Osama

Bin Laden death photos may stay secret

A federal appeals court has expressed skepticism about a lawsuit seeking to force the government to release the photos and video from the 2011 raid that killed the al-Qaeda founder in Pakistan.

"What about concerns that images could be used for propaganda?" asked appeals panel Judge Judith Rogers during a hearing Thursday.

Another judge, Merrick Garland, noted that government officials are "telling us it's a risk ... that Americans will die if we release these documents."

In refusing to release the photos back in 2011, President Obama said that "there is a real risk that releasing the photos will only serve to inflame public opinion in the Middle East."

Interest in the bin Laden photos has spiked up in recent weeks because of the release of the film Zero Dark Thirty.

The Associated Press reports on the photos:

"Judicial Watch, a conservative watchdog group, is seeking the images through the Freedom of Information Act. The Defense Department said it didn't turn up anything responsive to the FOIA, while the CIA found 52 responsive records. The intelligence agency withheld all of them, citing exemptions for classified materials and information specifically exempted by other laws.

"Judicial Watch lawyer Michael Bekesha told the appeals court panel in arguments Thursday that the government didn't provide a specific enough basis for denying the request. But Judge Merrick Garland said the government cited specific concerns that the images could be used by the al-Qaeda terrorist network for propaganda and to incite anti-American sentiment. ...

"John Bennett, director of the CIA's National Clandestine Service, said in a declaration filed with the court that many of the photos and video recordings are 'quite graphic, as they depict the fatal bullet wound to and other similarly gruesome images of his corpse.' Images were taken of bin Laden's body at the Abbottabad compound, where he was killed by a Navy SEAL team, and during his burial at sea from the USS Carl Vinson, Bennett said.

"Justice Department lawyer Robert Loeb said that Bennett's declaration explained why all of the records would harm national security. Bennett's declaration, for example, reported that al-Qaeda attacked the U.S. assertions that bin Laden had received an appropriate Islamic burial at sea. Bennett argued that releasing images of the burial, as well as of bin Laden that showed the 'gruesome nature of his fatal injuries,' could enhance the group's efforts 'to use these events to further attack' the security interests of the U.S. He said such images could also be interpreted as a deliberate attempt by the U.S. to humiliate the late al-Qaeda leader."